Last year, Futurewise was excited to support HB 1923, a bill out of the state legislature that encouraged more housing options across Washington state and provided planning dollars to municipalities who committed to changing development regulations or adopting housing action plans. Here’s an overview of what’s included in HB 1923. 

Nearly a year after the passage of HB 1923, we’re excited to report that cities across Washington state have taken the initiative to make more housing available in their communities. In 2019, the Department of Commerce awarded $4 million to 52 communities to address housing affordability.  

Cities that have made municipal code changes

Cities that are participating in regional housing action plans

Cities that have adopted single city housing action plans

Cities that have adopted new subarea plans

What’s next? 

State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) who sponsored HB 1923 last year has introduced a new bill, HB 2343, that will build on HB 1923 in a few key ways:

• The bill would remove parking analysis from State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review in hopes of reducing development costs and removing opportunities to appeal developments based on parking. New construction would still be required to meet parking requirements set by local development regulations.
• The bill would extend the period of time in which cites are protected from certain kinds of appeals from 2021 to 2023.
• The bill would extend caps on parking minimums to market rate housing located near frequent transit.

Rep. Fitzgibbon goes into more detail about these changes in our 2020 legislative preview starting at the 7:00 mark.

Stay tuned on our blog and in your inbox for weekly updates from the legislative session where we’re tracking HB 2343 among others!